PG&E is reviewing Hinkley water replacement programs

Hinkley resident Barbara Ray has a water-filtration system in place at her home in Hinkley. PG&E currently foots the bill for the cost of the system, but with the change in the state standards for the amount of chromium-6 allowed in water, the utility is looking at its current programs and what it means to residents of this desert enclave.
File Photo

HINKLEY >> Barbara Ray had a large water filtration system installed last fall on the house she has owned here since 2006.

It’s housed in a military- looking metal shed with a padlock so big you’d never find it at a building materials/home improvement retail superstore.

The sophisticated resin filtration system was developed for utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric Co., and its installation and the cost of its ongoing operations were also paid by them.

Today, California becomes the first state in the nation to have a drinking water standard for chromium-6. The new standard is 10 parts per billion.

Previously, California as the federal government still does, pegged standards to total chromium, which includes both the harmful chromium-6 and its more benign cousin chromium-3.

The former California limit for total chromium in drinking water was 50 parts per billion, while the federal government is maintaining 100 parts per billion total chromium as the upper limit for a safe level.

Ray feels good that this system pulls the chromium-6 out of her well water down to nearly nondetectable levels — which is what it was when she moved in, she said.

But in recent years chromium-6 has crept into her wells, occasionally rising to 1.9 parts per billion.

Hinkley became world famous for its cancer-causing chromium-6 groundwater contamination in the movie “Erin Brockovich.”

Not a single Hinkley resident has chromium-6-contaminated well water levels at or above the new state legal limit.

For that reason, PG&E, the company responsible for the chromium-6 plume, is evaluating whether or not to continue maintenance and support costs for the resin-based filtration system, which has been installed on 30 Hinkley homes and another program to provide bottled water to an additonal 200 Hinkley households.

When those programs were implemented, it was known that the state was working on a new standard, but not known what the limit would be, said Jeff Smith, a PG&E spokesman.

PG&E “is still evaluating” those water programs, in the wake of that new standard, Smith said.

The company is also discussing this situation with state water regulators.

“This is not going to happen overnight,” he said, adding that there would be a lengthy notice period if there are changes.

Ray said that had the whole household water filtration system been around years before, she wouldn’t have shut down her pool.

Advertisement

She appreciates the filtration system, but wouldn’t pick up the tab for it if PG&E stops paying for it.

Ray, a member of Hinkley’s Community Advisory Committee, said that she has heard it costs between $8,000 and $20,000 annually to pay for the systems.

The new standard is causing a ripple effect among water companies in locations where chromium-6 occurs naturally, such as the Coachella Valley.

The Coachella Valley Water District is evaluating its need to reduce chromium-6 contamination in about half of its wells, said Jim Barrett, general manager.

The agency estimates its customers could see their bills jump by $50 per month.

A manufacturing trade group and a taxpayers association has filed a lawsuit over the standard.